Sports
Basketball

Algoma U. ready to make moves

The Algoma University Thunderbirds Men’s Basketball team resumes regular season play tonight when they return to the hardwood to host Toronto’s Humber College, at Algoma’s George Leach Centre, at 8 p.m.

The T-Birds have had more than a six-week hiatus from Ontario College Athletic Association action.

Their last outing before the Christmas holidays was Nov. 28, against Sault College in a game where the T-Birds dominated 83-49.

The T-Birds won their two previous contests ‑ over Fanshawe and Niagara ‑ to carry a three-game winning streak into the holidays.

Algoma owns a 7-3 record, good enough for 14 points and fourth place in the 11-team, OCAA West Division.

They are also tied for fourth overall with Algonquin in the 22-team league halfway through the schedule. Ten games remain in the regular season.

Fanshawe and Sheridan are tops in the West with 10-1 records. Algoma has one game in hand on both teams.

T-Birds head coach Thomas Cory is not satisfied with how his guys have fared so far, but at the same time he says they are in a good spot in the standings.

“There’s room for improvement. We have a lot of games left to play … This Saturday game is hopefully going to get us going in the right direction, where we left off.”

Algoma started the season with four straight wins followed by three losses, then three more wins.

Humber comes into tonight’s contest in fifth spot in the West with a 6-4 record and 12 points, two points behind Algoma. The Hawks are 4-1 on the road, while the T-Birds are 4-1 on the home court.

The two teams play only twice during the regular season. Humber defeated Algoma 73-67 in the first meeting at Humber Nov. 17, which means the T-Birds will be looking for revenge tonight, Cory said.

“They’ve always been one of the top teams in the province every year. When we play them we’re always looking to knock them off,” he said.

And although Cory’s guys have not suited up for an OCAA contest in more than a month, they will not likely be too rusty.

After their final game Nov. 28 they practiced regularly until Dec. 21, then took a week off before returning to the locker room to prepare for the Rod Shoveller Memorial tournament, at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The T-Birds played three games against Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) teams at the event that began Dec. 29 on the East Coast.